{"id":30072,"date":"2023-05-11T12:22:35","date_gmt":"2023-05-11T10:22:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.geres.eu\/?p=30072"},"modified":"2023-05-11T14:24:46","modified_gmt":"2023-05-11T12:24:46","slug":"fight-energy-poverty-women-first-line","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.geres.eu\/en\/news\/analysis-and-opinion\/fight-energy-poverty-women-first-line\/","title":{"rendered":"Combating energy poverty: why are women on the front line?"},"content":{"rendered":"

[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ fullwidth=”on” _builder_version=”3.25.3″][diba_header_article _builder_version=”4.9.4″ width=”1400px” max_width=”100%” module_alignment=”center” height=”505px”][\/diba_header_article][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ custom_padding_last_edited=”on|tablet” _builder_version=”3.25.3″ custom_padding=”0px||0px|||” custom_padding_tablet=”|20px||20px” custom_padding_phone=””][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.25.3″ width=”100%” max_width=”1400px” module_alignment=”center” custom_margin=”|||” custom_margin_tablet=”” custom_margin_phone=”” custom_margin_last_edited=”on|desktop” custom_padding=”|10px|0px|10px||”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.25.3″][bastad_breadcrumb _builder_version=”3.25.3″ custom_padding=”0px|||||”][\/bastad_breadcrumb][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.25.3″ width=”100%” max_width=”1400px” custom_padding=”0px||12px|||” locked=”off”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.25.3″][et_pb_text module_class=”introduction-guide” _builder_version=”4.9.4″ text_font=”||||||||” text_text_color=”#000000″ text_font_size=”24px” text_line_height=”1.65em” link_font=”||||||||” ul_font=”||||||||” ol_font=”||||||||” header_font=”||||||||” header_font_size=”29px” background_color=”#ffffff” background_image=”https:\/\/www.geres.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/BG-4.jpg” custom_padding=”44px|84px|21px|65px||” custom_padding_tablet=”40px|50px|40px|50px” custom_padding_phone=”|40px||40px” custom_padding_last_edited=”on|phone” hover_enabled=”0″ text_font_size_tablet=”17px” text_font_size_phone=”17px” text_font_size_last_edited=”on|phone” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n

Ma\u00ebva Br\u00e9au is project and gender advocacy officer for the international eco-feminist network Women Engage for a Common Future (WECF) and Marie-Maud G\u00e9rard is energy, building and solidarity programme officer for the international NGO Geres.<\/h1>\n

Together, they take a look at the challenges faced by women in the fight against energy poverty and the means of action they are trying out, especially via the EmpowerMed programme to which they and other stakeholders are contributing.<\/h1>\n

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Marie-Maud G\u00e9rard
\n<\/span><\/h2>\n

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Having worked for Geres for several years, as energy efficiency adviser and then leader of the Energy & Environment project, I am now in charge of the Energy, Building and Solidarity Programme. In particular, my role within Geres Europe Mediterranean team is to develop and implement projects designed to bring about an inclusive, supportive energy transition: combating energy poverty, involving residents in energy sobriety initiatives, mobilizing local stakeholders and enhancing their skills to ensure that no one is left out of this vitally important energy transition.<\/p>\n

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Maeva Br\u00e9au
\n<\/span><\/h2>\n

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I have been project and gender advocacy officer with WECF France for around four years. There are two aspects to my role: co-ordinating projects run at international level by our field partners who strive on a daily basis to strengthen and obtain recognition of women’s \u00a0place in the fight against the effects of climate change in their countries, while at the same time engaging in awareness and advocacy campaigns for more inclusive climate policies reflecting women’s particular needs and concerns. This work draws on our partners’ expertise and field knowledge.<\/p>\n

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In what way are energy poverty and gender inequality issues connected?<\/h2>\n

Ma\u00ebva Br\u00e9au<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n

As Marie-Maud has noted, energy poverty is connected with social and economic vulnerability. In France and Europe more generally, women run a greater risk of living in poverty, for many different reasons relating to the stereotypical division of roles between women and men within households.<\/p>\n

Even today, women are paid 28.5% less than men for the same hours of work and they are also over-represented in part-time contracts or “unpaid” work (domestic chores, caring for older family members or children, etc.). This will have a significant impact on their pensions in later life.<\/em><\/h4>\n

Moreover, women live longer than men and are over-represented as heads of single-parent households, with responsibility for childcare. The accumulation of these effects means that, in 2017, 17% of women-headed households were experiencing energy poverty as against 10% of the general population. <\/em><\/h4>\n

Alongside these economic and socio-cultural aspects, there are also differences in physiology (women are more sensitive to heat and cold) and impact in terms of mental and physical health (many vascular and respiratory diseases are caused by domestic pollution).<\/p>\n

ECO-FEMINISM is a word we hear at WECF, but how can we define it?<\/h2>\n

Ma\u00ebva Br\u00e9au<\/strong><\/p>\n

There is no consensus over the definition of eco-feminism, but the concept nevertheless rests on a commonly acknowledged fact: that there are indissociable links between the domination of nature and the domination of women in our capitalist system.<\/p>\n

Eco-feminism is therefore an intersectional political and philosophical movement, which is also based on fighting for the ideal of a circular, participatory, self-managed society of direct democracy, opposed to all hierarchies (of sex, class, ‘race’, origin and so on) and to the mass exploitation of our natural resources and people.<\/p>\n

In practice, it means bringing social justice and gender concerns to bear on all environmental issues.<\/p>\n

Do you have any figures about the situation in France and the Mediterranean as a whole?<\/h2>\n

Marie-Maud G\u00e9rard<\/strong><\/p>\n

In Europe, it is estimated that more than 57 million people suffer from the cold in winter and 104 million from the heat in summer, while 52 million are behind with payment of their energy bills.<\/p>\n

\n

In France, according to the latest figures from the National Energy Poverty Observatory, 20% of French people suffered from cold for at least\u00a0 twenty-four hours over the 2020-2021 winter, over a third of them for financial reasons.<\/h4>\n

Statistics specifically showing the number of women affected by this phenomenon are almost non-existent at present, underlining the importance of the EmpowerMed programme.\u00a0\u00a0<\/h4>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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So, can you tell us what the \u201cEMPOWERMED\u201d programme is about and what changes you hope it will make? Especially when it comes to advocacy?<\/h2>\n

Marie-Maud G\u00e9rard<\/strong><\/p>\n

EmpowerMed is a consortium involving 9 European partners and projects in 6 countries around the Mediterranean, from Spain to Albania.<\/p>\n

EmpowerMed<\/a>\u00a0aims both to develop ways to combat energy poverty in the field, by involving and strengthening households, starting with women who are affected to a greater extent, and to build on the results obtained to come up with recommendations for advocacy from local through to European level.<\/p>\n

The focus of the project’s advocacy is to defend a Mediterranean vision of the fight against energy poverty, including by helping to keep everyone comfortable at home in the summer and highlighting the role of women as vectors of change.<\/p>\n

The policy recommendations of EmpowerMed put forward a more inclusive definition of energy poverty, encourage a greater focus on the link with gender and especially the development and monitoring of indicators revealing this problem (numbers of women affected, number of women among the beneficiaries of the aid provided, as well as numbers of young people, people with disabilities, etc.).<\/p>\n

Also worth reading : escaping energy poverty in the Provence-Alpes C\u00f4te d\u2019Azur<\/a> region<\/span><\/p>\n

Ma\u00ebva Br\u00e9au<\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For my part, I can see a twofold objective for the EmpowerMed project:<\/p>\n